§ 13 Rule 41 - Measurement of a Player's Equipment

A referee may request the measuring of any piece of equipment at any time. If he rules that it does not conform to IIHF standards in the rules set out here, it will be considered dangerous equipment and cannot be used during game action until it has been adjusted in accordance with these rules or with IIHF standards.

No goal can be disallowed as a result of illegal equipment.

The measuring of a skater’s equipment is limited to sticks.

The captain or alternate captain of a team is the only player who may make a formal complaint to the referee against the specific dimensions of any opponent’s equipment. He may do so at any stoppage of play or prior to the start of any period.

The referee will make the necessary measurement immediately. If the complaint is invalid, the requesting team will be assessed a bench-minor penalty. If the complaint is upheld, the offending player will be assessed a minor penalty and the illegal equipment will be returned to the player’s bench by the referee.

The request is limited to one measurement and one team at any stoppage of play, but a captain can make as many requests for measurement as he wants over the course of a game.

If the captain of a team that is two men short in the last two minutes of the game or at any time in overtime requests an equipment measurement that is invalid, the referee will award a penalty shot against the requesting team. If the measurement is upheld, the offending player will be assessed a minor penalty.

The player whose stick is to be measured must be holding the stick at the time the request is made. He may be on the bench or on the ice, but the referee must make visual confirmation that the stick in question belongs to the player.

If a stick is deemed illegal, the offending skater must enter the penalty box immediately, and a teammate is allowed to bring him another stick. The referee will return the illegal stick to the team’s players’ bench, and if the team alters the stick to legal dimensions, it can be used again. As a result, it can also be measured again.

If the referee is unable to use the curve gauge for whatever reason to measure the curvature of a stick, the stick will be considered illegal and be removed from the game. However, no penalty will be assessed to either team.

There can be a measurement of a player’s or goaltender’s stick anytime in overtime or the penalty-shot shootout or any time from the start of the game until its conclusion.